Announcements
The Spotify Stars Program: Celebrating Values Week!

Help Wizard

Step 1

NEXT STEP

Charged from GB instead of AUD and i got charged international fees on my credit card

Charged from GB instead of AUD and i got charged international fees on my credit card

hi, i've been charged monthly from Spotify AU, but this month i was charged by Spotify GB instead, and i got charged additional international fees. Just checking if there was a reason why this happened? 

Reply
38 Replies

Hello, and thanks for the post.

 

May I know the payment method you use to pay for Premium?

 

Speak to you soon!

Hi, it is through PayPal

Can I just confirm that you have your Paypal currency settings set to the correct country?

I too have been charged an international fee this month also and it has never happened inthe past.
I am usually charged in AUD but last month i incurred a international transaction fee. Can this fee be reversed for me as it has never happened before.
I pay via PayPal

yeah it's kind of weird.. any resolution spotify?

Hey guys! Sorry to learn that you have been charged this foreign transaction fee.

 

I've checked your accounts and can confirm that we're only charging you 11.99 AUD for your Spotify subscription. You can also see this in your Receipts page here.

 

This international fee was not charged by us, rather it was charged by your bank. If this is the first time you have paid this fee, I would recommend contacting your bank to find out. You can also request to have the charges reimbursed.

 

I hope this helps and please let me know if you have further questions.

Hi, This has happened again this month. So what happened is that even though it is getting charged in AUD, I'm getting charged by your GB branch instead of our AU branch and it's making me get charged international transaction fees. Please fix it, it's deifnitely on your end. The past whole year i've been getting charged from the AU branch, only last month and this month you've changed it to the GB branch.

I too have been charged an international transaction fee again this month. Is it because you have moved your spotify billing to an overseas branch instead of an Australian branch? Please rectify this issue and refund the international transaction fee that i have been charged !

hi, please reply.. it's happened 2 months in a row, it says you'ure charing us from GREAT BRITAIN, so doesn't matter whether it's in AUD or not, we still get international transaction fees.. please fix or we'll have to cancel our subscription..

Hi Spotify, I'm having a similar problem, being charged $11.99 AUD but the charge is from Spotify Stockholm so I'm being charged an international transaction fee by my bank. i checked my account and the country is set up as Australia. Please rectify this immediately- thanks.

hi, still waiting on a reply

I'm also impacted. Since October which was when all spotify outside the USA was moved to Spotify AB insteand of Spotify Australia, i'm being charged and international fee for my monthly spotify (via paypal) payment on my credit card. My paypal account is set to AUD (Australia), so no reason for this to be happneing. The problem is at Spotify's end, as the bank are just working on the charge coming from PayPayl which is coming from Spotify.
Spotify you need to fix this problem, its been happening for 3 months now.

I will look to other streaming options if needed.

@MaryS, could you do some more follow up with these users? Thanks!

Hey everyone,

 

Thanks for your comments. Apologies about the delayed response.

 

We've just updated our terms and conditions. As explained in our blog post here, one of the changes to the terms is an update to the name and address of the Spotify company that provides your service (and which is the legal entity responsible for your data). In the past, this was often a local Spotify company; This company will now be Spotify AB everywhere but the US, in order to better reflect the reality of our business operations. Keep in mind, that as a practical matter, it’s still the same “Spotify” - we just have had multiple operating entities and we’re now streamlining our operations.

 

This change might have resulted in the extra fee you've noticed and reported. Many countries require such a fee for purchases made with overseas vendors. As mentioned previously, we don't charge the fees from our end, they are applied by your bank. As such, we are unable to remove this or make modifications from our side, so we’d recommend you contact your bank directly to have the charges reimbursed. 

 

Thanks,

Hi Mary, i'm not sure that response is acceptable. Spotify changed their billing from Australia to a centralised European base which is now charging Australian customers a foreign currency for their monthly subscription and banks accoprdingly then charge the foreign currency fee due to that. We signed up to an AUD monthly subscription fee not (in my case) a GB monthly subscription fee. When Spotify changed their T&C's they didn't not state that the fee structure (in this case change from AUD to GB) would be the result, in fact Spotify only highlight 3 key changes (see below what I received as notification). How were customer to know the fee would not be AUD and given the choice to accept such a fee change??

 

Updated Terms & Conditions

We’ve rolled out a few small changes to our terms and conditions today, and we know that can sometimes cause confusion (we know, because we’ve done it ourselves). So we want to be super clear about what is changing today (not that much) and what isn’t changing at all – starting with the terms of our privacy policy.

That’s right – the terms of our privacy policy are not changing. The only change in the privacy policy is that in countries outside the United States, we are consolidating all of our agreements under our parent company, Spotify AB, based in Sweden where Spotify was started. Our commitment to the privacy of our users is very important to us and we aren’t changing anything at all with regard to how we use the information you choose to share with us. For an overview of our privacy policy, look here.

Here is a snapshot of the key updates to the terms:

  • Third party subscriptions – Sometimes users purchase Spotify Premium from a third party service like a telephone company. We have updated the language in our terms to make it clear that users who purchase Spotify though third parties are also subject to the terms of those companies. For example, if you bought your Spotify subscription through Telia in Sweden, you are subject to Telia’s terms and conditions as well as Spotify’s.
  • Company that provides your service outside the US – At the end of the terms and conditions and privacy policy, the name and address of the Spotify company that provides your service (and which is the legal entity responsible for your data) is listed. In the past, this was often a local Spotify company; in Belgium, for example, it was Spotify Belgium. This company will now be Spotify AB everywhere but the US, in order to better reflect the reality of our business operations. Keep in mind, that as a practical matter, it’s still the same “Spotify” – we just have had multiple operating entities and we’re now bringing our operations under one organizational structure. (And if you were wondering, this is all about internal operational efficiencies and is not motivated by tax considerations; this will not have any impact on our obligation to pay taxes in local markets as required under local tax rules.)

These are the only significant changes we are making to our terms and conditions. We hope this makes it clear that our commitment to your privacy – and to how we keep your information secure – is absolutely unchanged. We’ll be rolling this out on a market by market basis. If you ever have any questions or concerns, then please let us know at privacy@spotify.com.

This is what my bank said - "We confirm that from 18 January 2016, you will be charged an International Transaction Fee of 3.4% on transactions made with an overseas merchant in AUD."

 

So even if we are paying AUD, as long as it's an international merchant we get charged the international transaction fee.. so please fix that! or else let us know so we can leave spotify!

Hi @iRemeber87,

 

Your subscription is still paid in AUD, not in GB nor in a foreign currency. To improve efficiencies and security, we've recently changed the acquiring bank for your ongoing subscription to abroad, and that's why your bank adds the foreign transaction fee.

 

If you check your bank statement, Spotify charges 11.99 AUD only. The foreign transaction fee is listed separately as it's something related to your bank. As mentioned, many banks require such a charge for purchases made with overseas vendors.

 

As we don't receive this fee, so we're unable to refund this. 

You are wrong on so many levels. Firstly, Australian customers signed up to an Australian Spotify, it was Spotify choice to centralise to an overseas bank which has caused this. Banks here in Australia don't just charge a international fee for fun, it's because they have received a payment request from you and your foreign bank. At what stage were customers notified that such a change by Spotify would lead to more fees at our end. Many of my friends use Spotify and bank with different banks, we are all getting the extra charge so the root cause can only be Spotify. I might be one customer that you lose out of your error but many of my friends will follow and social media will hear about your blatant disregard for spotifys action (mainly due to avoiding tax in countries). I guess Apple Music is a better option after all.

Oh & my bank statement shows 11.99 AUD because my bank only shows AUD currency transactions, they convert it before putting it on my statement as my credit card is an Australian credit card

Suggested posts